January8, 2008

Congressman Ted Poe (TX-02) released the following statement today in regards to the State and Justice Departments failure to respond accordingly to the repeated inquires he and other Members of Congress have made regarding the investigation of the sexual assault allegations made by Jaime Leigh Jones while working as a contract employee in Iraq.

Who is in charge here, asks Poe. The time has long past for excuses and finger-pointing. With a $400 billion budget, you would think that the Defense Department would have the resources to protect Americans overseas and maybe even have a little left over to investigate allegations of criminal activity as well. This is not a case of ignore it and it will go away. The American people deserve better and Jaime Leigh Jones deserves justice. This type of blatant disregard for responsibility by our government is unacceptable.

Congressman Poe has made numerous inquires into the investigation of the allegations made by Ms. Jones:

December 10, 2007: Congressman Poe requests information from US Attorney General Michael Mukasey regarding the status of the investigation.

oStatus: No Response.

December 10, 2007: Separate requests for information pertaining to the investigation of the Jones case were made to the US Department of State: Jenny Foo, Department of Overseas Citizens Services; Lynn Falanga Special Agent with Diplomatic Security.

oStatus: No Response from either request.

December 11, 2007: Congressman Poe and Judiciary Chairman John Conyers request information from Attorney General Mukasey.

oStatus: Response sent to Chairman Conyers and Congressman Poe was inadequate and uninformative; declined to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

January 3, 2008: Congressman Poe requests the assistance of Secretary Condoleezza Rice in determining the status of the investigation and the lack of cooperation from State Department officials.

oStatus: Response Pending.

Ms. Jones, a former constituent of the 2nd Congressional District, alleges she was drugged, sexually assaulted and held against her will while working for a US contractor in the Green Zone in Iraq two years ago. Congressman Poe became involved in Jones case when he was contacted by Jones father to facilitate her evacuation from Iraq.

More information on the efforts made by Congressman Poe on behalf of Ms. Jones can be found on our website, http://poe.house.gov/.

Congressman Poe serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Victims Rights Caucus. As a former criminal court judge and prosecutor for over 30 years in Houston, Texas, Poe is recognized nationally for his creative sentencing of criminals and as a dedicated advocate for victims and children.